Two steps forward, one step back.
I'll keep this review simple. A lot of the tiny things we've been clamoring for in every COD actually showed up in this game and it's a pleasant surprise. The ability to cycle through killstreaks is amazingly welcome. The ability to customize killstreaks within each CLASS is also a huge addition. Absolutely love it. Unlock gear after prestiging is easily the most underappreciated addition to the game. And here's a thought, the damn leaderboards actually work...what a welcome fix to something I just gave up on in B.O.
But without a doubt my favorite addition to the game, Hardcore Kill Confirmed. Wow. You are essentially taking the campiest game mode and throwing in a twist that almost completely negates the camping. Excellent game mode that I hope we'll see in future CODs.
And now the negatives. While having two studios working on a franchise can be good for fans b/c we see games more often, it also leads to one huge problem in the game and that's the lack of CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT. A game should be constantly improving. Something fixed in Black Ops shouldn't be prevailent in MW3, ditto MW2 to Black Ops.
It's frustrating that I spent 99% of my time in Black Ops playing Hardcore Capture the Flag, only for that game mode to be absent from MW3. The inability to mute the music in the game is pretty frustrating considering that option was available in the last gime. Little glitches in the game such as player collision and killstreaks overwriting each other is something that shouldn't be happening in a franchise that's been around for this long.
But my biggest gripe with the game is the lack of customization. Black Ops was absolutely amazing with the customization. I could edit my emblem, the colors, and do the same with my weapon. Pick a camo for the weapon, customize the reticle and the reticle color to match my weapon and emblem colors. Slap my emblem on my gun and wow, running around picking up guns was actually fun to see everyone's creativitiy.
Now I 100% understand the decision to get rid of emblems. The immaturity of the COD community was put on display in Black Ops with all the inappropriate emblems, but for those of us who actually used the emblem maker the way it was intended, it's such a significant loss. It would be nice if the developers actually implemented a better way of moderating the community instead of just taking that addition away from us. It's the tinest loss from the game that just keeps the game from being more enjoyable.
Overall, the negatives aren't bad enough to make me quit the franchise the way I quit Madden a few years ago, but hopefully the franchise stops taking these steps backwards or their will be another game out there that will swoop in and take away the FPS King title away from the COD series.